Claudio Ranieri has brushed off suggestions Zinedine Zidane could succeed him as Monaco manager despite reports in Spain that the former France captain is set to leave Real Madrid.

Former Chelsea manager Ranieri – who has one year of his contract with Monaco remaining having moved to the principality in 2012 – is rumoured to be on the brink of being sacked by the billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev despite securing a Champions League spot for next season.

Monaco currently trail the Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain by seven points with three games remaining after beating Ajaccio 4-1 on Saturday thanks to a double from Dimitar Berbatov. However, after the Spanish newspaper Marca reported over the weekend that Zidane is ready to leave his role as assistant coach to Carlo Ancelotti in order to gain managerial experience, the World Cup winner is thought to be top of Rybolovlev's list of potential replacements for Ranieri.

Yet the 62-year-old Italian, who was sacked by the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in May 2004 and replaced by José Mourinho despite guiding Chelsea to second place in the Premier League, has insisted history will not be repeating itself.

"Zidane has the media behind him but I have 75 points," he said. "Only Zidane? But it seems that all the names want to come to Monaco? You journalists love your many rumours. This is a good position to take because Monaco is a great club but no one will replace Ranieri. Ranieri will continue."

With more than £150m spent this season on new players including the Colombian striker Radamel Falcao and compatriot James Rodríguez, Champions League qualification was the minimum requirement for Ranieri's Monaco this season. PSG's failure to beat Sochaux on Sunday meant Laurent Blanc's side must wait until the weekend for another opportunity to wrap up a second successive title.

Ranieri said: "For us, the goal was not to delay the coronation of PSG. We play every game to win. We've got 75 points, which is fine in my opinion, but I still want more. This is important for our pride. Especially as we've played without [Radamel] Falcao since November."